This blog post I dedicate to my sport. Cross Country.
The glorious sport of Cross Country is probably among the more amazing sports in the world. I know, it may not be the most entertaining thing to watch, but when you watch people you know race, it gets crazy, especially at the end when there's like 400 meters left and two people are neck and neck and then one gets ahead but at the last second the next person passes them! that's good stuff. It's also a wonderful sport because for the most part, it's you against you. The goal (usually, and even then) isn't to beat everyone else, the goal is to beat yourself, do better than you've ever done, see all of your hard work pay off. Whereas with most sports your team wins or looses, no matter if you improve tenfold, your team could still loose to the opponents. You also get to gauge yourself on just how much you get better, for example, with soccer you can learn to kick more directly, but you can't really track your progress and see yourself getting better and better, whereas with my trusty sport, you can be encouraged by all the awesome progress your making and you can see it pay off through times an things.
Besides racing, there are also so many good things that come from just running long distance. You can get in shape and have so much energy to be able to accomplish daily tasks. I know after I started XC every day after a run first I'd feel awfully exhausted, but then in a few minutes, I'd feel like I'd have more energy than I did to begin with. You also supposedly get awesome legs, I'm still waiting for that promise to come true though. And running helps me clear my head like none other. I usually run alone because no one else on my team is my speed or decently close to my speed, and it just gives me time to think things through, make a checklist for the day and schedule out my day, it also can just improve your mood dramatically. During Kiss Me Kate this past year, when I was juggling school, play, and XC I would feel so much more relaxed and positive after a day of running, rather than a day of rehearsals (I love theater so very much, don't get me wrong!). Running is just good for you.
Now another HUGE part of my sport, is my team. I seriously have the best team in the world. Everyone is so happy, hardworking, and positive, not to mention great examples to me in other aspects of my life. Our team is known for just being filled with amazing people who have super high standards and are really friendly. Now some may argue that the team is kind of a "cult" if you will. but that is completely. . . arguable. I will admit we have some cultish qualities, but that is beside the point! When you join the Cross Country team it's like you automatically get 70 new friends who support and encourage you in all you do. I do theater because I love acting, I do XC because I love the people.
This season I have been honestly working so hard. Last year at about this time I was still struggling to get two miles down without stopping, and now I'm focusing on bigger and better goals. I can quite honestly say that I am probably the worst one on the team. I know, life is tough. But I'm not going to give up! Cross country is something I can work at, have goals for and improve in. Like my coach said this morning, some people's goals on our team is to be the state champion, others goals are to make varsity, and others goals are to break 25 minutes. My personal goal for the season is to break 30. for most people that is a more than achievable goal, they can do that every day for a leisurely run, even people who don't go running everyday could still probably break 30 for a 5K. But for me, that goal is something I have to work hard for. Every time I feel like giving up, wanting to slow down, take a quick breather, I try to picture myself after a race looking at the list, searching for my name and time, and then I see my name, scroll my finger over to my time and seeing 29:54 and feeling so excited. like if I ever see something so beautiful as that, It would just make me want to scream and possibly cry. I seriously have been killing myself this summer in hopes of getting a time as wonderful as that. I'm having a hard time of imagining myself not crying for hours if at region this year I still haven't reached my goal, I'm seriously that determined.
Well Cross Country is the best. best sport, best team, best coach, best everything. It's just awesome and I wake up every morning at 6:30 just super excited to go hang out with my friends and run some miles and get closer to my goals. some people complain at practice about how early it is, or how hard it gets, but I simply couldn't be happier. I love it! I enjoy Cross Country thoroughly.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Time
okay, I'll admit it, I have a small obsession with time.
No it is not incredibly unhealthy, but quite enough to be annoying. I know it is 10:42 right now, I know that in about a minute it'll be 10:43, but that doesn't stop me from adverting my eyes to the bottom right of my screen about ever twelve seconds. There is nothing happening for the rest of the day, it completely does not matter what time it is, but it still doesn't stop me from needing to know the time.
I'll also admit I still have a hard time reading clocks. No one really reads this blog anyway, so therefore, these confessions are mostly for myself and Jane, and so I don't really care if Jane knows I have trouble reading clocks. It's not that I'm completely stupid. but I don't know if I could tell you whether it was the big hand or the little hand that signified the hour. I know I should take time out of my life to make sure to learn how to read a simple clock, but in this crazy lazy land we call America, my need to ever learn how to read a legitimate clock is becoming less and less.
My constant need to know the time also extends to like dates and stuff. I will probably count up nine times tomorrow that school starts in four weeks. four weeks exactly. only four more Mondays. 28 days. Thomas comes home in 17 days, which is two weeks and three days. but did I mention that the same amount of time that it will take for school to start is the amount of time since I came home from youth conference.
I have a need to be on time. No I don't die if I'm 10 minutes late to some random get-together, but I enjoy being punctual. I like being early in fact. It's comforting to know that I won't be late to practice ever if I'm always 10 minutes early. I think being on time for things is important, but I can't say I think lesser of someone for being 5 minutes late to a meeting of sorts, because I do it all the time, but when people are consistently hugely late, that begins to irk me.
I also hate waking up before my alarm clock, whether it's a minute or an hour, it drives me up the wall that I just wake up before it goes off. I set my clock for a reason. I want to wake up at 6:30, not 6:28, not 5:31, but 6:30. Not necessarily because I want the extra sleep, but because I want to be sure my body is trained to wake up at the sound of the alarm, not the time, because when I need to wake up at a different time during the school year I don't want my body to think it's acceptable to wake up at 6:24 when I need to be at school at 7:00. I hate forgetting times for things as well. I need to tell myself one hundred times that I'm driving with Brockman tomorrow at 9:15 (crazy, I know!) and I still may forget it.
What is the bizarre cause behind my time obsession? Possibly my inability to read clocks, maybe my fear of forgetting or sleeping in, or maybe I may just have some form of OCD. I don't really know. I just know that time will always be there, and even as pointless as it may seem for me to know the time, it matters to me. somewhat. I actually personally wish I could care less whether I'm writing this at 11: 09 or 11:10, but for some odd reason I care WAY to much.
So there is my confession. I obsess over time. it's 11:11. make a wish.
No it is not incredibly unhealthy, but quite enough to be annoying. I know it is 10:42 right now, I know that in about a minute it'll be 10:43, but that doesn't stop me from adverting my eyes to the bottom right of my screen about ever twelve seconds. There is nothing happening for the rest of the day, it completely does not matter what time it is, but it still doesn't stop me from needing to know the time.
I'll also admit I still have a hard time reading clocks. No one really reads this blog anyway, so therefore, these confessions are mostly for myself and Jane, and so I don't really care if Jane knows I have trouble reading clocks. It's not that I'm completely stupid. but I don't know if I could tell you whether it was the big hand or the little hand that signified the hour. I know I should take time out of my life to make sure to learn how to read a simple clock, but in this crazy lazy land we call America, my need to ever learn how to read a legitimate clock is becoming less and less.
My constant need to know the time also extends to like dates and stuff. I will probably count up nine times tomorrow that school starts in four weeks. four weeks exactly. only four more Mondays. 28 days. Thomas comes home in 17 days, which is two weeks and three days. but did I mention that the same amount of time that it will take for school to start is the amount of time since I came home from youth conference.
I have a need to be on time. No I don't die if I'm 10 minutes late to some random get-together, but I enjoy being punctual. I like being early in fact. It's comforting to know that I won't be late to practice ever if I'm always 10 minutes early. I think being on time for things is important, but I can't say I think lesser of someone for being 5 minutes late to a meeting of sorts, because I do it all the time, but when people are consistently hugely late, that begins to irk me.
I also hate waking up before my alarm clock, whether it's a minute or an hour, it drives me up the wall that I just wake up before it goes off. I set my clock for a reason. I want to wake up at 6:30, not 6:28, not 5:31, but 6:30. Not necessarily because I want the extra sleep, but because I want to be sure my body is trained to wake up at the sound of the alarm, not the time, because when I need to wake up at a different time during the school year I don't want my body to think it's acceptable to wake up at 6:24 when I need to be at school at 7:00. I hate forgetting times for things as well. I need to tell myself one hundred times that I'm driving with Brockman tomorrow at 9:15 (crazy, I know!) and I still may forget it.
What is the bizarre cause behind my time obsession? Possibly my inability to read clocks, maybe my fear of forgetting or sleeping in, or maybe I may just have some form of OCD. I don't really know. I just know that time will always be there, and even as pointless as it may seem for me to know the time, it matters to me. somewhat. I actually personally wish I could care less whether I'm writing this at 11: 09 or 11:10, but for some odd reason I care WAY to much.
So there is my confession. I obsess over time. it's 11:11. make a wish.
Monday, July 11, 2011
A Charming Story of a Charming Girl.
Once upon a time there was a 16 year old girl. This girl was a semi normal girl, who worried about semi normal things, had a semi normal amount of friends, but happened to have an extraordinary lack of love in her life. This girl watched one too many chick flicks, listened to one too many love songs, and read one too many romance novels; therefore, turning her into a hopeless romantic wishing for someone to pay attention to her and sweep her off her feet. This girl had many beautiful friends, and watching her beautiful friends gain attention and affection from handsome young gentleman gave this girl the impression that she was not beautiful herself. But this was not so! What our young heroine failed to understand was that she was beautiful! Not only was this girl beautiful, she was kind, smart, and very very special.
Unfortunately, this story is yet to be continued, as it is based off a pending story that is yet to have an ending. but when the happily ever after comes (which I know it will. . . someday) this story will receive a (hopefully) satisfying ending.
Unfortunately, this story is yet to be continued, as it is based off a pending story that is yet to have an ending. but when the happily ever after comes (which I know it will. . . someday) this story will receive a (hopefully) satisfying ending.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Summer
So when I see people who I haven't seen for a while they always ask "so what have you done this summer?". I wish I could pull a Phineas and Ferb and have some awesome adventure everyday, but unfortunately, I don't have unlimited access to money, incredible building knowledge, and a strange ability to never have to clean up my messes. So I usually end up with a dull answer like "running." or "online classes." then they always persist, thinking that I'm hiding some excellent adventure and for some reason not sharing it yet.
Nope. My life's really that exciting.
Then of course because they asked you, you need to be kind and reciprocate the gesture, "And what have you done this summer?" "Not much, just went to Africa for three weeks building orphanages for impoverished children." What?!?! how can some people have such outstanding adventures, and I'm stuck at home writing an essay about shin splints?
So the question is, what can I do this summer that's basically free, involves 1-10 people, is incredibly exciting, and never gets old? Oh, and none of us can drive others. legally. So basically I get to write my essays, listen to Taylor Swift/Michael Buble/ Sara Barellis, and every morning run as long as I can as fast as I can and still get last place.
But wait, I thought I was supposed to be an optimist, and have an optimistic blog. Well for some reason I only feel like sharing when I'm particularly irked at something, but I'll at least add something positive at the end.
People. People make me happy. Being a shy ex-sophomore (I refuse to become a Junior yet.) I enjoy just the company of those older and cooler than me. I like to sit silently and just be in the presence of such amazing people and just hear them talk to one another, continuing to amaze me with their awesomeness. I've decided that when I grow up, I want to be Andi, and Shelby, Whitney, Kara, Meg, Shayna, Megan and a long list of others. I mean, how can people be so talented, spiritual, nice, AND fun to be around? Every time I'm around them I just hope a little bit of their wonderfulness shines on me and I can become a little more like them.
Nope. My life's really that exciting.
Then of course because they asked you, you need to be kind and reciprocate the gesture, "And what have you done this summer?" "Not much, just went to Africa for three weeks building orphanages for impoverished children." What?!?! how can some people have such outstanding adventures, and I'm stuck at home writing an essay about shin splints?
So the question is, what can I do this summer that's basically free, involves 1-10 people, is incredibly exciting, and never gets old? Oh, and none of us can drive others. legally. So basically I get to write my essays, listen to Taylor Swift/Michael Buble/ Sara Barellis, and every morning run as long as I can as fast as I can and still get last place.
But wait, I thought I was supposed to be an optimist, and have an optimistic blog. Well for some reason I only feel like sharing when I'm particularly irked at something, but I'll at least add something positive at the end.
People. People make me happy. Being a shy ex-sophomore (I refuse to become a Junior yet.) I enjoy just the company of those older and cooler than me. I like to sit silently and just be in the presence of such amazing people and just hear them talk to one another, continuing to amaze me with their awesomeness. I've decided that when I grow up, I want to be Andi, and Shelby, Whitney, Kara, Meg, Shayna, Megan and a long list of others. I mean, how can people be so talented, spiritual, nice, AND fun to be around? Every time I'm around them I just hope a little bit of their wonderfulness shines on me and I can become a little more like them.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Is This a Good Thing?
Somehow, taking three online classes this summer seemed like a good idea at one point. Now, I suppose that if I am going to spend about half my life blankly staring at this screen, I may as well be productive and knock some required classes out of the way. The first few days of classes I hit them all hard, getting done assignments all day like a good student. But then the assignments started getting harder, and requiring effort beyond reading the paragraph and retyping the answers, and the incentive to complete these classes quickly became less and less. Now I'm stuck in all three classes; in PE I need to borrow a text book in order to continue, in health I'm supposed to write a two paged essay with sources and such on my opinion on assisted suicide, and in financial lit. I just don't feel like doing it anymore. I know this is a bad thing, and that maybe I should just take a break of sorts, but I still can't see myself studying whether or not people should help other people kill themselves. This is my summer, and it's starting to look a little less exciting than watching llamas feed from across the orthodontists office.
But I assume there is an upside to these lovely little classes. Such as, once I get rid of these three classes and if I take zero hour seminary one or both years, I'll be able to fit in all of my elective classes and keep Regents.
Yay.
But somehow my life will be improved through this ever exciting adventure called "summer online classes" and one day I may be glad that I chose to persevere through this trial in life, but that day is not today. But tomorrow is a new day, maybe tomorrow I'll come back from XC and I'll automatically have the strangest desire to research whether it is ethical or not to put someone out of their misery who wants professional assistance. Do you see that happening? because I sure don't.
But I assume there is an upside to these lovely little classes. Such as, once I get rid of these three classes and if I take zero hour seminary one or both years, I'll be able to fit in all of my elective classes and keep Regents.
Yay.
But somehow my life will be improved through this ever exciting adventure called "summer online classes" and one day I may be glad that I chose to persevere through this trial in life, but that day is not today. But tomorrow is a new day, maybe tomorrow I'll come back from XC and I'll automatically have the strangest desire to research whether it is ethical or not to put someone out of their misery who wants professional assistance. Do you see that happening? because I sure don't.
Friday, June 3, 2011
Friday
It's Friday, Friday
Gotta get down on Friday
Everybody's lookin' forward to the weekend, weekend
Friday, Friday
Gettin' down on Friday
Everybody's lookin' forward to the weekend
Only the most popular song of today's youth. This song reminds me something of another super popular song that was an all time favorite last year about this time. Something about a baby? But anyway, I've decided to enjoy this song because I have it stuck in my head quite a bit more often then is healthy, and my life would be pretty miserable if I hated it. Do I really honestly love it? 'course not! But it's just one of those songs that you can just love to hate, like that one song by that one boy.
Gotta get down on Friday
Everybody's lookin' forward to the weekend, weekend
Friday, Friday
Gettin' down on Friday
Everybody's lookin' forward to the weekend
Only the most popular song of today's youth. This song reminds me something of another super popular song that was an all time favorite last year about this time. Something about a baby? But anyway, I've decided to enjoy this song because I have it stuck in my head quite a bit more often then is healthy, and my life would be pretty miserable if I hated it. Do I really honestly love it? 'course not! But it's just one of those songs that you can just love to hate, like that one song by that one boy.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Blogging
Blogging. I'm almost torn between being afraid that people are going to read it, or that people aren't going to read it. But for anyone who does, here's the first post for the world. What do you write on a blog? Is it like a journal that you're inviting the world to read? I know a lot of people put poems/books/pictures, but sadly I lack poetic skill, the stories I usually think up are mostly just the happenings (or what I wish were the happenings) of my life, and I'm not quite the photographer.
Now, because I tend to over think the small things, I wanted the title of my blog to be something special. I've spent about three days looking at quotes, scriptures, and Google trying to find something that could represent me, my life, or my optimism while avoiding sounding like an eleven year old girl or a blog all about religion (Don't get me wrong, I love religion. that's just not what this blog is about). Finally today I just got fed up with the whole thing, went to a quote web site, clicked the random quotes button, and promised myself that some part of one of those quotes was going to be my title. And magically, the perfect words sat upon the screen, "Life is tough, and if you have the ability to laugh at it you have the ability to enjoy it." -Salma Hayek. Perfect? no? Short, sweet, and to the point.
I love quotes. they're so inspirational and uplifting! One of my absolute favorites is actually from Winnie the Pooh. . . don't judge, “If ever there is a tomorrow when we're not together... there is something you must always remember. you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. but the most important thing is, even if we're apart... I'll always be with you.” I just think it's sweet, it reminds me that even when I want to give up and I don't think I'm good enough, I can do it, and my Heavenly Father will always be with me to help me.
Any who. This is my blog. It's bound to get better as soon as I get the hang of it. Thanks for taking a part of your life to reading this.
Susan.
Now, because I tend to over think the small things, I wanted the title of my blog to be something special. I've spent about three days looking at quotes, scriptures, and Google trying to find something that could represent me, my life, or my optimism while avoiding sounding like an eleven year old girl or a blog all about religion (Don't get me wrong, I love religion. that's just not what this blog is about). Finally today I just got fed up with the whole thing, went to a quote web site, clicked the random quotes button, and promised myself that some part of one of those quotes was going to be my title. And magically, the perfect words sat upon the screen, "Life is tough, and if you have the ability to laugh at it you have the ability to enjoy it." -Salma Hayek. Perfect? no? Short, sweet, and to the point.
I love quotes. they're so inspirational and uplifting! One of my absolute favorites is actually from Winnie the Pooh. . . don't judge, “If ever there is a tomorrow when we're not together... there is something you must always remember. you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. but the most important thing is, even if we're apart... I'll always be with you.” I just think it's sweet, it reminds me that even when I want to give up and I don't think I'm good enough, I can do it, and my Heavenly Father will always be with me to help me.
Any who. This is my blog. It's bound to get better as soon as I get the hang of it. Thanks for taking a part of your life to reading this.
Susan.
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